During the day, Alexis Porada is a 14 year old freshman at Beaver Area High School. Outside of school, she races horses almost every weekend.

Porada is a member of the NBHA (the National Barrel Horse Association) where she competes in barrel racing.

In these races, three barrels are set up in a clover shaped pattern, and the objective is to race around them as quickly as possible. If a rider knocks over a barrel, they are penalized with a three second penalty. Each person competes one at a time and essentially against themselves to get their best times.

Porada is one of the top five racers in her division, which means that she’s headed to the national tournament in Perry, Georgia. The tournament will be held July 2023.

“It’s my first time [going to nationals]. I’m nervous, but I’m really excited too,” said Porada. “I’m competing against everyone in the country, and for IBRA, which is international, you’re combining different countries.”

A love for horses runs in Porada’s family. The first time she rode was as a newborn baby inside of a chest pouch with her mother who’s ridden horses for most of her life. Porada’s uncle owns a horse arena and a ranch where she practices. They currently have six horses, including two babies.

“A lot of people don’t do what I do, but there’s a woods behind my farm where I live. There’s trails that are specifically designed to work those muscles that you use [in competition],” said Porada. “So for barrels, there’s a trail that cuts through. A lot of people don’t do that!”

Instead of competing for ribbons and medals at local tournaments, barrel riders compete for prizes instead. So far, she’s won saddles, reigns, belt buckles, and more. Additionally, some larger local shows allow spectators to place bets on the horses and riders.

Porada competes in the local shows almost every weekend. Because shows are held so frequently, the riders in her division are very close friends.

“My mom always compares it to one big family; we’re one big family. The environment there is fantastic. For state finals, we did this one big cookout and we stopped the show completely. The arena is pretty big, so we had tables lined up with food. It was really cool,” she said of the camaraderie among her fellow riders and their families.

Her horse, Charlotte, is ranked number eight in the state out of over 350 horses. She’s had Charlotte since she was eight years old, so they’ve trained together for six years.

“It’s like another human. A lot of people say it’s not a team sport—it definitely is,” explained Porada. “You and your horse have to be together.”

She compares the horse and the rider to a well-oiled machine, saying, “If my horse is having a bad day, there’s a mental block that they get, and they get nervous or anxious. We have specific voice commands and stuff like that.”

The connection between Porada and her horse is special. She explained that just like with people, you have to get along well with your horse, and both of your mindsets have to be very similar in order to make a good team. It takes two: the horse’s ability and the rider’s horsemanship skill.

However, misconceptions of barrel racing and shows are common. When most people think of horseback riding, they think of stereotypes that inaccurately reflect the sport.

“When people ask me if I ride, they automatically think rodeo. Barrel racing is just one thing, whereas I do NBHA, which focuses on barrel racing and another pattern called poles,” said Porada. “We don’t do anything with cows or things like that. People get what I do confused with rodeo. I do [participate in] rodeo, but that’s a completely different sport.”

With rodeo, competitions are held on normal ground. In contrast, the dirt for barrel races has to be in perfect condition so that the horses don’t slip making fast, tight turns.

Porada is currently taking some time off from competition as she awaits next year’s racing season to begin.

Good luck at nationals, Alexis!